The Laurel Highlands is a region in southwestern Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

 made up of Fayette County

Fayette County, Pennsylvania

Fayette County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of the2010 census, the population was 136,606. The county is part of the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area....

, Somerset County

Somerset County, Pennsylvania

Somerset County is a county located in the state of Pennsylvania. As of 2010, the population was 77,742. Somerset County was created on April 17, 1795, from part of Bedford County and named for Somerset, United Kingdom. Its county seat is Somerset. It is part of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania,...

 and Westmoreland County

Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 369,993 people, 149,813 households, and 104,569 families residing in the county. The population density was 361 people per square mile . There were 161,058 housing units at an average density of 157 per square mile...

. It has a population of about 600,000 people.

Approximately fifty-five miles southeast of Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...

, the Laurel Highlands center around Laurel Hill

Laurel Hill (Pennsylvania)

Laurel Hill, also known as Laurel Ridge or Laurel Mountain, is a long mountain in Pennsylvania's Allegheny Mountains. This ridge is flanked by Negro Mountain to its east and Chestnut Ridge to its west. The mountain is home to six State Parks; Laurel Ridge State Park, Laurel Mountain State Park,...

 and Chestnut Ridge of the Allegheny Mountains

Allegheny Mountains

The Allegheny Mountain Range , also spelled Alleghany, Allegany and, informally, the Alleghenies, is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the eastern United States and Canada...

. The mountains making up the Laurel Highlands are the highest in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

, with Mount Davis

Mount Davis (Pennsylvania)

Mount Davis is the highest point in Pennsylvania. Located in the 5,685 acre Forbes State Forest in Elk Lick Township, Somerset County, it rises to 3,213 ft...

 in Somerset County the highest point in the state at 3213 feet (979.3 m). Because of the elevation, weather in the Laurel Highlands is generally cooler and wetter than in most other parts of the state.

The Laurel Highlands is a popular area for hiking, mountain biking, hunting, trout fishing, wildlife viewing, leaf peeping, and downhill skiing.

Amusement Parks and Resorts

• Idlewild Park and Soak Zone
• Nemacolin Woodlands
• Seven Springs Mountain Resort
  Seven Springs Mountain Resort
  Seven Springs Mountain Resort is an all season resort located in Seven Springs, Pennsylvania. The resort is officially listed in the borough of Seven Springs but some sources still list it as Champion, as it previously was. It has a fairly high elevation for a Pennsylvania ski area, at 3001 feet...
  
  
• Hidden Valley Resort
  Hidden Valley Resort
  Hidden Valley Resort is a holiday resort in Huntsville, Ontario, Canada, about 225 kilometers north of Toronto...
  
  

Historic Sites

• Bushy Run Battlefield
  Bushy Run Battlefield
  Bushy Run Battlefield Park is a historical park that was operated by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, on , in Penn Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania in the United States. It was the site of the Battle of Bushy Run fought on August 5 - 6, 1763 during the Pontiac's Rebellion...
  
  
• Flight 93 National Memorial
  Flight 93 National Memorial
  The Flight 93 National Memorial is located at the site of the crash of United Airlines Flight 93, which was hijacked in the September 11 attacks, in Stonycreek Township, Pennsylvania, about north of Shanksville, and southeast of Pittsburgh. The memorial was made to honor the passengers of Flight...
  
  
• Fort Ligonier
  Fort Ligonier
  Fort Ligonier is a British fortification from the French and Indian War located in Ligonier, Pennsylvania, United States. The fort served as a staging area for the Forbes Expedition of 1758. During the eight years of its existence as a garrison, Fort Ligonier was never taken by an enemy...
  
  
• Fort Necessity
• National Road
  National Road
  The National Road or Cumberland Road was the first major improved highway in the United States to be built by the federal government. Construction began heading west in 1811 at Cumberland, Maryland, on the Potomac River. It crossed the Allegheny Mountains and southwestern Pennsylvania, reaching...
  
  
• Friendship Hill
  Friendship Hill National Historic Site
  Friendship Hill National Historic Site, maintained by the National Park Service, was the home of early American politician Albert Gallatin. It overlooks the Monongahela River near Point Marion, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, about south of Pittsburgh....
  
  
• Johnstown Flood National Memorial
  Johnstown Flood National Memorial
  Johnstown Flood National Memorial commemorates the approximately 2,200 people who died in the Johnstown Flood of 1889, caused by a break in the South Fork Dam. Clara Barton successfully led the American Red Cross in its first disaster relief effort. The memorial is located at 733 Lake Road near...
  
  
• Heritage Discovery Center
• Compass Inn Museum

Parks and Outdoor Recreation

• Forbes State Forest
• Kooser State Park
  Kooser State Park
  Kooser State Park is a Pennsylvania state park in Jefferson Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The park, which borders Forbes State Forest, was built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps, who also built the Kooser Lake by damming Kooser Run. Kooser State...
  
  
• Laurel Caverns
  Laurel Caverns
  Laurel Caverns, formerly known as Dulaney's Cave and Laurel Hill Cave, is the largest cave in Pennsylvania. Located in Farmington, Pennsylvania; it sits on Chestnut Ridge near Uniontown, about southeast of Pittsburgh....
  
  
• Laurel Hill State Park
  Laurel Hill State Park
  Laurel Hill State Park is a Pennsylvania state park in Jefferson and Middlecreek Townships, Somerset County, Pennsylvania in the United States. Laurel Hill Lake is a man-made lake with a dam that was constructed during the Great Depression by the young men of CCC camps SP-8-PA and SP-15-PA...
  
  
• Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail (part of Laurel Ridge State Park
  Laurel Ridge State Park
  Laurel Ridge State Park is a Pennsylvania state park that passes through Cambria, Fayette, Somerset, and Westmoreland counties, Pennsylvania in the United States. The park is home to the Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail that runs through the park from the Youghiogheny River at Ohiopyle to the...
  
  )
• Laurel Mountain State Park
  Laurel Mountain State Park
  Laurel Mountain State Park is a Pennsylvania state park in Ligonier Township, Westmoreland County and Jenner Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania in the United States. This state park is a ski resort that closed for business in 2005. The ski assests of the park were purchased by Seven Springs...
  
  
• Laurel Summit State Park
  Laurel Summit State Park
  Laurel Summit State Park is a Pennsylvania state park in Cook Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania in the United States. It is also a picnic area with a scenic view of Linn Run on the summit of Laurel Mountain. The temperatures at Laurel Summit State Park are generally several degrees...
  
  
• Linn Run State Park
  Linn Run State Park
  Linn Run State Park is a Pennsylvania state park on in Cook and Ligonier Townships, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The park borders Forbes State Forest. Two smaller streams, Grove Run and Rock Run, join in Linn Run State Park to form Linn Run which has a waterfall, Adams...
  
  
• Loyalhanna Gorge
• Ohiopyle State Park
  Ohiopyle State Park
  Ohiopyle State Park is a Pennsylvania state park on in Dunbar, Henry Clay and Stewart Townships, Fayette County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The focal point of the park is the more than of the Youghiogheny River Gorge that passes through the park. The river provides some of the best...
  
  
• Youghiogheny River
  Youghiogheny River
  The Youghiogheny River , or the Yough for short, is a tributary of the Monongahela River in the U.S. states of West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania...
  
  
• James Mayer River Walk
• Ghost Town Trail
  Ghost Town Trail
  The Ghost Town Trail is a rail trail in Western Pennsylvania that stretches from Black Lick, Indiana County, to Ebensburg, Cambria County. Established in 1991 on the right-of-way of the former Ebensburg and Black Lick Railroad, the trail follows the Blacklick Creek and passes through many ghost...
  
  

Ski Resorts

• Seven Springs Mountain Resort
  Seven Springs Mountain Resort
  Seven Springs Mountain Resort is an all season resort located in Seven Springs, Pennsylvania. The resort is officially listed in the borough of Seven Springs but some sources still list it as Champion, as it previously was. It has a fairly high elevation for a Pennsylvania ski area, at 3001 feet...
  
  
• Hidden Valley Four Seasons Resort
• Laurel Mountain Ski Resort
  Laurel Mountain Ski Resort
  Laurel Mountain Ski Resort is a ski resort located in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The resort is adjacent to the Laurel Mountain Village, Pennsylvania and is the primary attraction of Laurel Mountain State Park.-History:...
  
  (closed)